Synopsis:Robert is a boy who can do anything - or so old Edith Sorrel at the nursing home tells him. Robert doesn't think so, knowing as he does that he is the school geek. Niker, the bully, challenges Robert to spend the night at old Chance House with him - but who will prove to really be the strongest?

Review: As part of the "Elders' Project", twelve year-old Robert Nobel meets elderly Edith Sorrel, who spurs him to solve the mystery of the boy who died at Chance House. A chain of magical "coincidences" assists him toward the answer, Edith is enabled to die peacefully, and bullied Robert's confidence and courage builds. Edith's words are proved true, "You are a wonderful boy. An extraordinary boy. You can do anything you want. You can fly, Robert."

Feather Boy displays all that is best about contemporary children's fiction. The narrative is both relentlessly gripping and told self-consciously, and fairytale is shown to have psychological power to heal trauma, from both the present and the mis-remembered past. As Catherine (the Project leader whom more jaded readers may find rather wet and worthy) declares early on, "one never grows out of fairy tales. I think fairy tales contain all of the ways we sort experience, good and bad. In fact, I think stories are the most important form of communication we as human beings have."

Bullying is portrayed realistically, the dialogue is crisp,and the story is immediate, in the present tense throughout - not a distracting device, but absorbing.

Blue Peter Book of the Year 2002

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2007-02-19